“Career Challenge 2010/11”, the youth mentorship programme co-organized by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) and the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups (HKFYG), held its first sharing session on 17 December 2010 (Friday).  Renowned performing artistes, Mr. Teddy Robin and Ms. Maria Cordero, were the first guest mentors.  They shared with hundreds of secondary students their experience on how to break down stereotypes and overcome hurdles on the road to success.  Dr. Rosanna Wong, Executive Director of the HKFYG and Mr. Lam Woon-kwong, Chairperson of the EOC officiated at the launching ceremony.

“Discrimination often stems from stereotypical thinking and misconceptions which we picked up subconsciously as we were growing up,” said Mr. Lam Woon-kwong, Chairperson of the EOC. “For example, some may believe that only young men and women with tall and slim figures are able to pursue a career in show business.  A middle-aged single parent with a working-class background or someone whose body shape does not fit the norms in advertisements may not be able to succeed in show business. But is that really true? This is not necessarily the case, as we learned from the sharing of our two guest mentors today. Very often, stereotypes keep teenagers from pursuing the career of their choice and hinder them from full personal development. Career Challenge helps teenagers develop a new way of thinking by learning from the real life experience of guest mentors. They can then widen their horizons and break out of stereotypical mindsets.”

This youth mentorship programme “Career Challenge” has been organized for the ninth consecutive year by the EOC since 2002. The EOC’s goals for the programme are two-fold: (1) to encourage teenagers to choose their career according to their own interests and abilities instead of stereotypes; and (2) to help end discrimination in order to build an inclusive society. It is the first time for the EOC to co-organize the programme with HKFYG. To support the implementation of the New Senior Secondary academic structure, Career Challenge 2010/11 has been registered with the Activity Data Bank of the Education Bureau as an “Other Learning Experience (OLE) Programme”.  Students may participate in the programme for a certain number of class hours as required by their schools. Some student participants will also be trained to be programme hosts and interview the guest mentors in future sharing sessions.  The programme archive will be available on the EOC website and the U CHANNEL of HKFYG at a later date for online review.

For media enquiries, please contact Ms. Shadow CHAN at 2106-2149.

Equal Opportunities Commission
17 December 2010